I've Reached My Goal

     Over at Let's Scrap we are challenging everyone to do 100 layouts (pages) in 2011.  I have had a lot of problems with my mojo lately and I was beginning to worry that I wouldn't make the challenge. Woo Hoo today with this layout I have finally met the goal and I am so thrilled. I have now upped my goal to 125 pages in hopes that I can meet it too.
     This week Cheri posted the Design Team Challenge and she showed us several different techniques and we were to pick one and do a layout or card using the technique and a Let's Scrap sketch.  I picked the technique where you change circles into squares for a unique look for your layouts. If you would like to learn how to do this you can check out a tutorial here. Here is the layout that I did using a photo of my wonderful sister Rose and her family taken in October 2010.

     I made the leaves myself and thought I would share a mini tutorial on how I did them.

To make the leaf shape I used a Spellbinders Shapeablilities Nested Maple Leaf die and my Cuttlebug.

The way the die is made I could have put it back through the Cuttlebug and embossed it but the embossing would have only made a small edge around the whole leaf. I didn't want it to look that way.  Instead I preferred to make them with the veins in the leaves like you see in real leaves.  I don't have a stylus to do the embossing and I tried different little tools that I had in my scrap bag but they would either make the veins to thick or they would rip my paper.  But then I had a brain wave.  Why not take one of the "fake" fabric leaves from a fall decoration and use it to emboss with.  The leaf had a plastic stem and plastic veins attached to it.  So I laid the fabric leaf on the "A" plate of my Cuttlebug, then put my cut out paper leaf on top of it, then the rubber mat and my two "B" plates on top of that. I didn't use any shims in between which you usually have to use because I didn't want the embossing to be to pronounced.  I then ran it through my Cuttlebug.
Here is what it looked like before embossing

here is how I placed them together before running them through the Cuttlebug.

and here is how it looked like afterwards

Then I  used some rangers inks (mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Dried Marigold) and inked the leaves.  I also used some of my cat's eye inks to add a bit more color.  After I was done all that I then sprayed the leaves with Tattered Angles Iridescent Glimmer Mist to give them a bit of a shine.  While they were still wet I scrunched them up a bit so they weren't laying flat. Here is a close up of how they looked when they were done.

 If I was doing it again I would be a bit more careful when scrunching them as I found that they wrinkled a bit more then I would have liked where the veins are, but all and all I am thrilled with how they turned out and will definitely be trying the technique again.

I hope you found this tutorial interesting and will give the idea a try.